Another step south, still awaiting completion
First Bank’s next expansion was announced on July 14, 2026: its Southern Pines parent, First Bancorp (North Carolina), agreed to acquire First Carolina Bancshares Corporation and its Florence-based Carolina Bank & Trust Company. The announced value was approximately $166 million. This was a signed agreement, with regulatory and shareholder approvals still required. The announced closing window was late 2026 or early 2027. [1]
From Troy to a two-state franchise
First Bank’s anniversary history dates its opening as Bank of Montgomery in Troy, North Carolina, to February 8, 1935, with R.T. Poole as president. Its first branch beyond the original building arrived in 1967; its first move outside Montgomery County followed in 1969. The history is one of gradual geographic expansion before the later succession of larger transactions. [2]
A holding company was formed in 1983. The bank adopted the First Bank name in 1985, and its parent became First Bancorp and subsequently listed publicly in 1987. The bank moved its headquarters to Southern Pines in 2013. In 2016 it exchanged its Virginia branches for six in North Carolina, sharpening its Carolina focus, and created a national small-business loan-origination division. The bank and publicly traded parent remain separate organizations despite their closely related names. [2]
There is a date discrepancy worth preserving: the FDIC directory records a January 1, 1934 establishment date for certificate 15019, while the company’s anniversary chronology gives the 1935 opening. Neither date is silently substituted for the other. The October 2, 2026 directory identifies an active North Carolina state member bank in Southern Pines, with the Federal Reserve as primary federal regulator. [3]
Everyday services support business relationships
For households, the current menu includes checking, savings and certificates of deposit, personal loans, home-equity borrowing and digital banking. Those products connect routine payments and saving with larger borrowing needs. Product pages establish availability rather than a universal price or approval promise: eligibility, fees and lending terms depend on the specific account or application. A bank offering familiar household services can still have a balance sheet dominated by business and property lending. [4]
The business offering brings together checking and savings, business loans, Small Business Administration lending and treasury services. Electronic payments, card processing, lockbox collection and Positive Pay address the movement and protection of operating cash. That matters to the model because a business relationship need not begin or end with a loan. Payment and deposit services can keep the bank involved through payroll, collections and day-to-day working-capital needs, although the menu alone does not measure how much revenue each relationship generates. [5]
Lending expanded faster than deposits
Bank-only FDIC financials show June 30, 2026 assets of $13.032 billion, deposits of $11.102 billion and net loans of $8.876 billion. At June 30, 2025 those figures were $12.603 billion, $10.852 billion and $8.114 billion. Gross loans were $9.001 billion in June 2026, approximately 81.1% of deposits by calculation. Loans therefore expanded faster than the deposit base over the year. [6]
First-half bank net income was $100.611 million, against $78.453 million a year earlier. Equity was $1.774 billion. Real-estate-secured loans were $7.918 billion, including $4.298 billion secured by nonfarm nonresidential property; those figures are not all office loans. The noncurrent-loan ratio increased to 0.49% from 0.42%. These are bank figures and six-month earnings, not the parent’s quarterly results. [6]
Better margins alongside a modest rise in problem assets
First Bancorp’s July 22 results help explain the earnings direction. At the consolidated parent level, second-quarter net income was $50.5 million versus $38.6 million a year earlier. Net interest margin widened from 3.32% to 3.71%, as higher loan balances and yields combined with lower year-over-year funding costs. Noninterest expense also rose. Better earnings did not mean every operating cost or credit indicator improved. [7]
The parent reported $44.9 million in nonperforming assets, up from $35.8 million in June 2025, and retained a $1.9 million incremental reserve for potential Hurricane Helene exposure. Its annualized second-quarter net rate was 0.04%. Problem loans, reserves and realized losses describe different stages of credit risk. The relatively low current loss rate does not erase the increase in loans no longer performing as expected, and a reserve is an estimate rather than a final disaster-loss tally. [7]
The pending deal and the limits of the comparison
The proposed Carolina Bank transaction would add 14 South Carolina branches. The announcement identified Adam Currie as First Bank’s president and chief executive; that is a bank office rather than a holding-company title. The target’s name should not be confused with previously acquired institutions bearing similar Carolina names. Announced expansion remains contingent until a completion document establishes otherwise. [1]
This is a dated institutional profile, with June financial comparisons and separately identified later corporate developments. An active directory entry establishes the bank’s recorded identity and status, not the outcome of a future merger, a confidential examination rating or the safety of an individual credit. The public record supports a growing Carolina franchise; it does not eliminate the ordinary uncertainty attached to integrating a new bank or collecting existing loans. [3]
Sources
- First Bancorp and First Carolina: merger announcement, July 14, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- First Bank: 90th-anniversary institutional chronology, 1935–2025SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- FDIC institution directory: certificate 15019, October 2, 2026 indexOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- First Bank personal banking services, checked October 6, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- First Bank business banking services, checked October 6, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑
- FDIC bank-only financials: June 30, 2026 and June 30, 2025; amounts in thousands of dollarsOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- First Bancorp: second-quarter 2026 results, July 22, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2